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Gainesville officials seek artwork for bus shelters as part of grant-funded project

Gainesville-Hall County Community Service Center Director Phillippa Lewis Moss is leading the way for art installations at bus shelters throughout Gainesville. The project is being funded by a $50,000 grant from the Georgia Department of Transportation.

Ron Bridgeman

Updated:
April 20, 2016, 12:33 p.m.

If Phillippa Lewis Moss has her way, Gainesville will be full of quite visible works of art within a few years.

The city is planning artwork either on or next to bus shelters or bike racks, said Moss, the community service director for the Gainesville-Hall County Community Service Center.

The first step is soliciting designs for 2-D and 3-D art. Moss said she hopes to place the art at about half of the city’s 20 bus shelters.

Gainesville received a $50,000 grant from the Georgia Department of Transportation in the fall of 2015 to seek artists to produce that art.

The art chosen for the bus shelters will follow the theme of “connecting our community, bringing people together,” Moss said.

She is quick to say this grant is a step in covering the city with artwork.

“This is the first of what we hope will be several projects,” Moss said, and she’s ready to move to the next step. But, she cautions, “one step at a time.”

She also said the works of art will be beneficial to transit riders and other vehicle traffic.

“They really will go to serve all members of our community,” she said.

The city is working with the Quinlan Visual Arts Center and the Greater Hall Chamber of Commerce’s Vision 2030 group on the project. The public arts committee of Vision 2030 will review the submissions for the artwork and make recommendations to Gainesville City Council, Moss said.

Artwork can be recommended for bus shelters or for bike racks. The art can be a painting, photograph or sculpture.

An image of the art should be submitted by Tuesday, “showing us pretty much what it’s going to be,” Moss said.

She said when the city received the grant, “I went to the best resource in our community to execute something like this” — Vision 2030 and Quinlan.

Moss said additional federal funds are available through future grants.

“I would like to complete this project successfully before starting a second round. However, a second round is very much my desire,” Moss said.

She pointed out the city has about 250 bus stops, making artwork possibilities plentiful.